{
  "title": "A New Agenda for Macro Stability",
  "publication": "IMF News, September 21, 2021",
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2021/09/21/sp092121-a-new-agenda-for-macro-stability-dmd-sayeh",
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  "summary": "As an organization of 190 countries that fosters global economic cooperation, the IMF, too, is focused on working with countries to support economic stability and sustainable growth.",
  "authors": [
    "Deputy Managing Director Antoinette M. Sayeh September"
  ],
  "publishDate": "2021-09-21",
  "sections": [
    {
      "heading": "Global outlook and divergence",
      "content": "- Global economy is on a path to recovery and \"on sounder footing\" than a year ago, but the recovery is creating a growing divergence between advanced economies and many emerging and developing economies.\n- Main drivers of divergence:\n  - Unequal access to vaccines:\n    - \"Close to 40 percent of the population in advanced economies is fully vaccinated.\"\n    - \"In emerging markets, that number is 11 percent – and in low-income countries, a tiny fraction.\"\n  - Unequal resources to support the recovery:\n    - \"Sizable fiscal support in advanced economies – with $4.6 trillion of pandemic related measures available in 2021 and beyond.\"\n    - \"In other economies, most support measures expired in 2020 due to limited fiscal space.\"\n- Risks highlighted:\n  - \"Extreme poverty is set to rise for the first time in 20 years.\"\n  - \"The emergence of even more infectious virus variants could further wipe out trillions from global GDP by 2025.\"\n  - A \"double blow\" to many emerging and developing economies if the pandemic worsens while advanced economies normalize monetary policy faster than expected and financial conditions tighten."
    },
    {
      "heading": "IMF response to the pandemic",
      "content": "- Scale and reach of IMF support since the start of the pandemic:\n  - \"The IMF has provided over $118 billion in financing to 87 countries, including 54 low-income countries.\"\n  - \"Our support to Sub-Saharan Africa, in particular, has increased dramatically – reaching 13 times that of our annual average last year.\"\n  - \"We provided policy advice and capacity development support to over 175 countries during the crisis.\"\n- Debt relief and liquidity measures:\n  - \"The IMF extended direct debt service relief to 29 of our poorest, most vulnerable member countries.\"\n  - Supported the G20’s DSSI and Common Framework initiatives.\n  - \"Last month, the IMF made the largest allocation of Special Drawing Rights in its history—about US$650 billion—injecting additional liquidity to the global economic system.\"\n  - Encouragement of voluntary channeling of some SDRs from countries with strong external positions to those most in need.\n- Characterization: \"Never in our history have we done so much, so fast – reached out to so many countries in such a short period of time.\""
    },
    {
      "heading": "Vaccine policy as first priority",
      "content": "- Urgent collective action to close vaccine access gaps is the top priority for durable and equitable recovery.\n- IMF staff proposal and targets:\n  - \"IMF staff recently outlined a $50 billion plan that sets a goal of vaccinating at least 40 percent of the population in every country by the end of this year and at least 60 percent by mid-next year.\"\n  - \"Faster access to vaccinations for high‑risk populations could potentially save more than half a million lives in the next six months alone.\"\n- Economic rationale:\n  - Vaccination investment could \"lead to trillions of dollars in economic growth driven by accelerated recovery.\"\n  - \"Vaccine policy today is the most urgent and important economic policy.\""
    },
    {
      "heading": "Building a resilient and sustainable global economy",
      "content": "- Long-term imperatives for macro stability:\n  - Strengthen public finances via better revenue mobilization and expenditure management.\n  - Modernize financial systems, advance macroeconomic frameworks, and improve governance.\n  - Expand access to basic public services—healthcare, education, and infrastructure—and protect vulnerable populations from income shocks.\n  - Advance digital economy policies (e-commerce, e-learning, e-government) and invest in human capital and high-quality education to spread benefits of technology more widely.\n- Gender-inclusive policies:\n  - \"IMF studies show that closing the gender gap in countries with very low female labor force participation could increase GDP by an average of 35 percent in level terms.\"\n  - Conclusion: \"Policies that are good for women are also good for economic growth.\"\n- Climate and green transition:\n  - Carbon pricing targets and proposal:\n    - \"Today, carbon is priced at $3 a ton—globally—we have to reach $75 a ton by 2030.\"\n    - IMF staff proposal of a carbon price floor for big emitters to make this action possible.\n  - Green investment and growth:\n    - \"Decarbonizing our economies will also require a substantial scaling-up of green investment over the next two decades.\"\n    - \"Research by IMF staff shows how deficit-financed green supply policies could raise global GDP by about 2 percent this decade and create millions of new jobs.\"\n  - Just transition principles:\n    - Support workers moving from shrinking to expanding sectors.\n    - Support countries balancing increasing energy access and reducing carbon footprints, and those facing high adaptation costs with limited resources."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Policy priorities and recommendations (summary)",
      "content": "- Immediate:\n  - Close vaccine access gap globally (vaccinate at least 40 percent of every country by end of this year; 60 percent by mid-next year).\n  - Encourage voluntary SDR channeling to countries most in need.\n- Medium and long term:\n  - Strengthen public finances: revenue mobilization and expenditure management.\n  - Modernize financial systems and macro frameworks; improve governance.\n  - Expand access to healthcare, education, infrastructure; protect vulnerable groups.\n  - Promote digitalization, invest in human capital, and advance gender-inclusive policies to boost growth (noting a potential 35 percent GDP uplift in affected countries).\n  - Implement robust carbon pricing (from $3 a ton globally to $75 a ton by 2030) and scale up green investment; design policies to ensure a just transition."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Key statistics and figures (verbatim)",
      "content": "- \"190 countries\"\n- \"over the last 18 months\"\n- \"close to 40 percent\" (advanced economies fully vaccinated)\n- \"11 percent\" (emerging markets fully vaccinated)\n- \"Extreme poverty is set to rise for the first time in 20 years.\"\n- \"$4.6 trillion of pandemic related measures available in 2021 and beyond\"\n- \"most support measures expired in 2020\"\n- \"over $118 billion in financing to 87 countries, including 54 low-income countries\"\n- \"13 times that of our annual average last year\" (support to Sub-Saharan Africa)\n- \"policy advice and capacity development support to over 175 countries\"\n- \"direct debt service relief to 29\" countries\n- \"about US$650 billion\" (SDR allocation)\n- \"$50 billion plan\"\n- \"vaccinating at least 40 percent of the population in every country by the end of this year and at least 60 percent by mid-next year\"\n- \"save more than half a million lives in the next six months alone\"\n- \"closing the gender gap ... could increase GDP by an average of 35 percent in level terms\"\n- \"carbon is priced at $3 a ton—globally—we have to reach $75 a ton by 2030\"\n- \"raise global GDP by about 2 percent this decade\" (deficit-financed green supply policies)\n\nSource: Opening Remarks at the Harvard Growth Lab’s Development Talk by Deputy Managing Director Antoinette M. Sayeh, \"A New Agenda for Macro Stability\", September 21, 2021.\n\n---\n\n\n References\n\n- https://www.imf.org/en/about/senior-officials/bios/antoinette-monsio-sayeh\n- Speeches\n- PRESS CENTER\n- https://www.imf.org/en/home\n\nSource: https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2021/09/21/sp092121-a-new-agenda-for-macro-stability-dmd-sayeh"
    }
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    "Authors: Deputy Managing Director Antoinette M. Sayeh September",
    "Published: September 21, 2021",
    "Global economy is on a path to recovery and \"on sounder footing\" than a year ago, but the recovery is creating a growing divergence between advanced economies and many emerging and developing economies.",
    "Main drivers of divergence:",
    "Risks highlighted:",
    "Scale and reach of IMF support since the start of the pandemic:",
    "Debt relief and liquidity measures:",
    "Characterization: \"Never in our history have we done so much, so fast – reached out to so many countries in such a short period of time.\"",
    "Urgent collective action to close vaccine access gaps is the top priority for durable and equitable recovery.",
    "IMF staff proposal and targets:",
    "Economic rationale:",
    "Long-term imperatives for macro stability:",
    "Gender-inclusive policies:",
    "Climate and green transition:",
    "Immediate:",
    "Medium and long term:",
    "\"190 countries\"",
    "\"over the last 18 months\"",
    "\"close to 40 percent\" (advanced economies fully vaccinated)",
    "\"11 percent\" (emerging markets fully vaccinated)",
    "\"Extreme poverty is set to rise for the first time in 20 years.\"",
    "\"$4.6 trillion of pandemic related measures available in 2021 and beyond\"",
    "\"most support measures expired in 2020\"",
    "\"over $118 billion in financing to 87 countries, including 54 low-income countries\"",
    "\"13 times that of our annual average last year\" (support to Sub-Saharan Africa)",
    "\"policy advice and capacity development support to over 175 countries\"",
    "\"direct debt service relief to 29\" countries",
    "\"about US$650 billion\" (SDR allocation)",
    "\"$50 billion plan\"",
    "\"vaccinating at least 40 percent of the population in every country by the end of this year and at least 60 percent by mid-next year\"",
    "\"save more than half a million lives in the next six months alone\"",
    "\"closing the gender gap ... could increase GDP by an average of 35 percent in level terms\"",
    "\"carbon is priced at $3 a ton—globally—we have to reach $75 a ton by 2030\"",
    "\"raise global GDP by about 2 percent this decade\" (deficit-financed green supply policies)",
    "[https://www.imf.org/en/about/senior-officials/bios/antoinette-monsio-sayeh](https://www.imf.org/en/about/senior-officials/bios/antoinette-monsio-sayeh)",
    "[Speeches](https://www.imf.org/en/news/searchnews)",
    "[PRESS CENTER](http://presscenter.imf.org/)",
    "[https://www.imf.org/en/home](https://www.imf.org/en/home)"
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